ETFs should get position exemption, fund says

MomingZhou

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. futures market regulator should extend the exemption from position limits to all funds that track commodities, the manager of the two biggest energy exchange-traded funds said at Wednesday's hearing held by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. John Hyland, chief investment officer of U.S. Commodity Funds, which runs the United States Oil Fund
USO, +0.00%
and the United States Natural Gas Fund
UNG, -1.56%
said in a statement that the exemption should be "extended to all commodity tracking funds with the characteristics of hedgers in energy markets." The two funds, albeit big, are not moving futures prices, he said, and they provide individual investors an easy access to commodities. The number of the funds' shareholders is expected to reach 600,000 this year, and about 75% to 90% are retail investors, he said.

Intraday Data provided by SIX Financial Information and subject to terms of use. Historical and current end-of-day data provided by SIX Financial Information. All quotes are in local exchange time. Real-time last sale data for U.S. stock quotes reflect trades reported through Nasdaq only. Intraday data delayed at least 15 minutes or per exchange requirements.